Marvel | Toy Keeper's Lair

The Many Faces of Wolverine from Hot Toys

Few companies have been able to capture a performer's likeness as well as the artists at Hot Toys. It is no wonder they have been able to make such an impact on the collectible toy market, raising the bar to an almost unforgivable height.

Today we are going to explore one of film and comics iconic characters, one that was played by the same man, Hugh Jackman, for nearly twenty years.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This X-Men: Origins figure captures the visceral nature of the Wolverine character in a way the Benioff penned film could not.

Sculpted by Kojun, part of Hot Toys dream team, this figure captures all of the detail that you would expect from the company that has produced so many incredible 1/6th scale figures. Combine the talented hand of Kojun with the expert eye of JC.Hong and you have one of the best best likeness released at the time of the film's release.

One aspect of the figure that is especially noteworthy is that they used a new material for the head, which produced better skin texture and was used in in the production of later figures as well. The body was based on the newly developed hirsute muscular figure body which had over 30 points of articulation and stood approximately 30 cm tall.

Close-ups

No figure from HT is complete without a mix of features and accessories.

Movie accurate costume of brown jacket, undershirt, shirt, jeans and boots
Movie accurate Origins adamantium claws
Accessories: dog tags and a leather-like belt with detailed buckle
Two pairs of interchangeable hands

Full Body

The Wolverine

Following on the heels of X-Men: Origins - Wolverine the artists at HT refined their take on the character, bringing the even event higher level of detail into the mix. This time the tailored clothing play an even bigger role in making the action figure come to life.

With the release of "The Wolverine" figure JC. Hong maintained his role as painter, this time working over the very competent work of Lee So Young, with Kojun providing art direction for the whole project.

Close-ups

The figure comes with five pairs of interchangeable palms including:

One pair of fists with metal claws
One pair of fists with bone claws
One pair of fists
One pair of relaxed hands
One pair of palms for holding sword

Full Body

X-Men: The Last Stand

A The Last Stand what can we say about it that fans haven't already said a million times? Regardless of where you stand you can't help but be amazed at the work HT put into this 1/6th scale collectible. Besides being released the year before the above entry it captures a harder more comic book likeness of Hugh that isn't present in the other artists' work. This time Im Jung Hyuk was tasked with sculpting the head, though Kojun and JC. Hong maintained their positions of art director and painter respectively.

I find it remarkable that, though each head is specially hand-painted, they seem to maintain a strong consistency and quality rarely found in the collectible toy market. When you see the prototype you know that that is most likely what the end product will look like. With that said the paint work was a monumental achievement with this figure. Check out these close-ups to see for yourself.

Close-ups

Three (3) pairs of interchangeable gloved palms including:
One pair of fists with blades
One pair of fists
One pair of relaxed hands

Full Body

X-Men: Days of Future Past

We have written extensively about the Wolverine figure from X-Men: Days of Future Past. If you want to know the complete story of that figure you should check it out. For the sake of completion I wanted to include some shots of that incredible piece of art. If you could label an action figure a masterpiece then this definitely goes into that category.

Marvel Retro Daredevil (DST)

Diamond Select Toys known for producing high quality action figures for popular franchises like John Wick have produced other less known lines. One of those lines is the focus for today's entry into the Toy Keeper's Lair, their 8" Marvel Retro Daredevil dolls.

When DST produces a figure a lot of work and planning goes into it, when they take a stab at something they want to hit their mark and this addition to the Daredevil fandom is no exception especially if you are into retro action figures and can't find (or afford) the 70s originals. (Collector's note: Mego never produced a DD doll.) Much like the noteworthy work that Figure Toys Co. is producing, this line captures the retro 8" standard fabulously which was first popularized by Mego in the 70s.

Mego Corporation became known for this line once they started to produce licensed figures for film, television and popular culture. Now they are a piece of toy collector history and a genre noted for its unique vintage aesthetic.

The Marevel Retro Daredevil comes with his iconic red or original yellow costume as well as in a Matt Murdock variant.

Diamond Select Toys' Description:

Finally, the devil has come to the Marvel Retro line!

Never released in the classic Mego toy line of yesteryear, streetwise superhero Daredevil is the latest Marvel character to get the Retro action figure treatment from DST! This gift set features one classically-styled red-costume Daredevil figure, in a vintage-style box, plus two additional heads and outfits: his original yellow costume and his alter ego, blind lawyer Matt Murdock! With interchangeable heads, hands, costumes and accessories, you can display your Daredevil however you want! Packaged in a full-color gift tray with a booklet about Daredevil, retro-style figures, and the creation process! Designed and sculpted by EMCE Toys!

Spider-Man 2099 2020 Toy Fair Exclusive (HT)

Hot Toys never ceases to amaze us. Just look at this beautiful Spider-Man 2099 figure they recently unveiled for Toy Fair.

For fans of Marvel's 2099 timeline it should come as no surprise that this is one of the most iconic characters to appear in it. Create by Peter David Spider-Man 2099 was a popular comic series for Marvel in 1992 and in recent years has made a comeback unlike the other characters to get a 2099 re-envisioning. There is no wonder why the character has survided so long, out of all of the characters created for the 2099 universe it was our favorite webslinger, played by Miguel O'Hare this time, was the most grounded and tangible. Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Punisher all seemed a bit too much like parody like, better suited for the surreal universe that 2000 A.D. represents than Marvel Comics. And before we continue I don't even want to get into the mess that the 2099 X-Men series choose to explore.

If you don't know what a 1992 comic book character looked like you can see it right here. Spider-Man's costume is painstakingly recreated in such high detail by the team at Hot Toys in such a way that almost makes you believe that this is a still from a film rather than an action figure. Honestly, I feel that it is a true work of genius whenever they release a new figure.

Many companies reach a certain level and either fail to maintain it or choose to redefine themselves all together once they have reached the top. HT doesn't do that. They have made a name for themselves and they continue to honor that name whenever a new figure rolls out the door. Every time I see one I say to myself; "they can't get better than this." But somehow they can and they do. With as large of a catalog as Hot Toys has it is easy to see that quality and quantity can coexist in harmony.

This figure is not just highly detailed it comes with a large assortment of accessories that make it a value for any Spider-Man fan.

But first, when you look at this figure you will see that it has something other toys in HT's assortment don't have. A new body. While still sporting the traditional 30 points of articulation is has been redesigned from the ground up to work with the characters unique flexibility. This gives way to a large assortmen of poses that were not possible before.

Miguel O'Hare also comes complete with a wide array of hands as you would expect for a Spider-Man figure. They cover both relaxed and action poses like:

One pair of relax hands
One pair of open hands
One pair of web shooting hands
One pair of clenching hands
One pair of gesture hands
One web holding left hand
One right fist

Since the figure was developed for the Spider-Man game you can expect that to be the main direction the marketing material took. That is why the base sports a specially designed Marvel’s Spider-Man game logo, character name and graphic card. All of which do not detract from the early 90s design.

As for action accessories you will also get:

One (1) pair of web shooters
Six (6) strings of spider web in different shapes and lengths
One (1) open spider web effect accessory

All of which allow you to create beautiful and dynamic scenes as the studio photo shoot pictures clearly show. It is no wonder that film maker Patrick Boivin has used their figures in the production of stop-motion animation.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Wolverine (HT)

This is my favorite X-Men movie and I have seen them all in theaters. And that includes the dismal Apocalypse (which I had such high hopes for) and Dark Phoenix (which I had less high hopes for). The original duology from Singer and the continuation from Ratner all have there place in my X-Men fandom but DoFP really propelled the franchise forward. And for that reason it makes sense that Hot Toys would produce one of the most beautifully sculpted and designed Wolverine action figures ever to see the light of day.

Standing at 30cm tall this figure has the standard Hot Toys style articulation that offers over thirty points so possibility fans have everything to they need to keep themselves entertained. The head is the real treat here, sculpted by Clare Yoo you'll swear you are looking at a photo. She was able to capture all of the fine details that makes her work a work of art. Clare was able to capture early every hair in this sculpture, as well as a true to life facial expression, which plays on Hugh's wrinkles in such a way I see something new every time I look at it. This is further refined by the incredible talents of JC. Hong who provided the paint work for Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine.

For fans of the franchise or of Hugh Jackman this is simply a must have in your collection. Wolverine fan? Even if you aren't you will be after you see this.

Like with any release from HT you get a wild assortment of accessories to choose from. This gives you every opportunity to style the figure just the way you want.

What would Wolverine be without his claws? You don't need to answer that because you will get a nice mix, which includes:

One pair of fists with metal claws
One pair of fists
One pair of relax palms

One aspect of this character that shouldn't be overlooked is the incredible costume. HT was able to recreate one of the coolest costumes to appear in an X-Men movie down to every last stitch. The battle worn piece of armor look like they have just done battle with a Sentinel. Beyond his suit the film accurate The 1/6th scale Wolverine comes with a figure stand with nameplate and the movie logo.

If you're still not convinced that this is the best implementation just take a look at these close-ups.

HT has made a name for themselves over the years, unlike many other companies we have seen come and go they continue to earn it with every piece that they put out.